Tientos and Glosados

by Antonio de Cabezon

THIS is not a title to roll off the tongue but a CD that many will find musically-enchanting all the same.

For it transports us back to Elizabethan and Tudor times and that rich seam of court music that dominated royal occasions.

If you've seen movies like Elizabeth I, A Man for All Seasons and Henry VIII and his Six Wives, you'll know immediately the kind of music contained on this CD.

And if this flavour of the times left any impression at all then these works by Cabezon will more than deserve a place in your collection.

Cabezon himself was a blind organist and one of the most distinguished musicians in Spain in the second quarter of the 16th Century.

This recording by Ensemble Accentus, conducted by Thomas Wimmer, contains a wide repertoire of the music of the day, composed for keyboard or plucked string instruments.

These include recorders, organ, harpsichord, viols, double harp and some percussion.

The first track sets the tone for the whole 55-minute disc to perfection.

It's called Diferencias sobre la Gallardo Milanesa and it epitomises the music of the court.

It offers an attractive musical dialogue between the left and right hand on a keyboard and the contrasting sounds the harpsichord evokes.

Also of note is track six (Pavana con su

Glosa) one of the many court dances fashionable at the time. It bounds along with humour and enthusiasm.

All the tracks are rich in tone and colour and the recording quality is exceptional.

In case your Spanish is rusty, a tiento is a freely-composed composition and a glosado is an ornamentation of a madrigal.

Naxos Early Music: No 8.554836